Killing the Rabbit

Book Summary

Author: 

Alison Goodman

Publisher: 

Bantam Press

Copyright Year: 

2008

Review By: 

Ann Byrne

Book Synopsis: 

Fledgling film director Hannie Reynard has used her film grant to party in Paris. Now back in Melbourne, she is blackmailed by grant auditor Mosson Ferret, who sees her project as his way back into filmmaking. Together they try to track down the missing subject of Hannie's documentary - Regina Wilcox, the Rabbit Woman of Melbourne.
Regina is a medical freak; one of the few women in the world who can 'resorb' their foetuses at will. But Regina is on the run from hitman Trojan Carmichael, who has been hired to kill her and six other Rabbit Women across Australia. It is us up to Hannie and Mosson to race against Trojan's deadly shooting schedule to save Regina and expose the conspiracy behind the wholesale hits.
Killing the Rabbit is an adult crime thriller with a dark twist of humour; a rollercoaster of excitement and violent action that sits firmly in the black comedy traditions of Tarantino and David Lynch with a uniquely Australian flavour.

“Killing The Rabbit” is Alison Goodman’s first crime fiction and it is a beauty.  The book is set between Australia and Japan with some intriguing meeting of the cultures.  The strict cultural norms are highlighted in the first sentence – “The forecaster could only come to one conclusion: there was no company protocol for hiring an assassin.”
Hannie Reynard, a film producer, has just got her big break with funding for her documentary Freaks or Frauds. In researching the film she comes across the rabbit woman mutation. A Japanese forecaster also has an interest in the mutation. The scene is now set for a fast pacing resolution of the competing ambitions and only one can be the winner.
Killing The Rabbit is a page turner and whilst the detail of the mutation will be surprising to most people its use is believable and the information provided shows credible scientific research. 
Additionally there is a love interest which provides some great dialogue as well as broadening the plot as Hannie and Mosson Ferrit have a history.
In my view Alison is a writer to follow, however she appears not to want to tie herself down to one genre just at this stage of her career. Let’s hope she comes back to crime fiction soon.